This invention relates generally to medical mammography systems that are designed to detect and biopsy non-palpable lesions of the female breast. More particularly, this invention is directed to a motorized biopsy needle positioner that automatically positions a biopsy needle to allow insertion to a previously identified point of interest in a patient's breast that is under examination.
Known mammographic needle biopsy systems, such as the Mammotest system manufactured and marketed by Fischer Imaging Corporation, Denver, Colorado, employ a computer-digitizer system to digitize the location of a point of interest within the patient's breast as that point of interest appears on a pair of stereo x-rays of the breast and to thereafter compute the three-dimensional or spatial coordinates of that point of interest and display them to the user. The user then manually sets these three-dimensional coordinates into respective position controls of a puncture instrument and inserts a biopsy or other needle to the identified point of interest. These manual systems are susceptible to human error in setting the computed coordinates of the point of interest into the puncture instrument. In addition, manual setting of the coordinates of the point of interest is a time consuming operation that is frustrating to the patient, who is required to continue holding a position in which one of her breasts is under compression. Also, the clinician user of these prior art mammographic biopsy systems is not permitted the flexibility of inserting the biopsy needle to a point within the patient's breast that is slightly offset from the previously identified point of interest because the coordinates provided by the computer-digitizer correspond precisely to the idenified point of interest.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a motorized biopsy needle positioner for mammographic needle biopsy systems that automatically positions a biopsy needle to permit insertion of the needle to a previously identified point of interest within a patient's breast.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a motorized biopsy needle positioner for mammographic needle biopsy systems that includes a control unit for enabling the user to automatically position a biopsy needle to allow insertion of the needle to a point within a patient's breast that is spatially offset from a previously identified point of interest.